Mobile Suit Gundam Crusades
by Soldier Of ZAFT
Summary: 3 children of a neutral Space Dome get caught between Two Space Factions fighting for control of a powerful Meteor piece. Alternate Gundam Universe. Please RxR
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gundam Franchises, but i do own this story so no stealing.

Special Note: This is a Gundam Fanfic, but since it doesn't have anything to do with any of the existing Gundam series, I have to make due by putting it in the misc. category. Oh well, what can you do. Anyways enjoy the story!

_**Prologue of Mobile Suit GUNDAM CRUSADES**_

**1.31.2029 AD-** A meteor is predicted by scientists to hit Earth in approximately 5 years, size of the meteor is predicted to be large enough to start the next ice age. NASA begins training of Meteor Demolitions Experts. (M-Team)

**1.31.2030 AD-** M-Team is sent to deal with the meteor and hopefully stop it. Earth begins preparations for emergency evacuation.

**3.3.2031 AD-** M-Team within range of meteor, reports of extreme radiation within the vicinity of the meteor conflict with M-Team leader Mirco Barlow. Knowing that this meteor is a threat to all mankind, Barlow ignores all warning and attempts to destroy meteor. Acidic radiation eats through the ship, and the entire M-Team is killed.

**5.26.2031 AD- **No reports from M-Team lead United Leaders to believe that evacuation will be necessary.

**10.4.2031 AD- **Orbital Space Workers complete the first Habitable Space Bio-Dome (HSBD) or Space Domes, as they've come to be known. Evacuation preparations are under way.

**7.6.2033 AD-** Through rushed efforts, Earth is able to build 4 more Space Domes. These domes are estimated to hold roughly 1 billions people each. Realizing that Earth's population is far too big to fit onto 5 Space Domes, United Leaders have a backup plan. Through the same technology as the Space Domes, Miniature domes are built under the ground (Earth Domes) to protect citizens on Earth from the Meteor's Toxic effects.

**2.3.2034 AD- **Space Domes begin to move away from Earth's orbit to prevent possible contamination of the Space Domes from meteor radiation.

**2.10.2034 AD- **On February 10, 2034 AD Mankind watches in horror as the meteor strikes just near the coast of California and poisons nearly every living thing on the planet. Because of underground contamination, many of the Earth Domes proved to be ineffective against the acidic radioactivity that ate through the M-Team's ship and billions of lives were lost. Out of the roughly 200,000 Earth Domes that were built; only 8 protected the remnants of Earth's Population from their radioactive doomsday.

**2.11.2034 AD-** Reports of the disaster on Earth reaches the Space Domes. Many were shocked to learn of the vast ineffectiveness of the Earth Domes ability to protect their inhabitants from the radioactivity. After witnessing this horrible tragedy, the rest of Mankind now adopts a new calendar "After Judgment" (AJ)

**2.31.0AJ- **Preparations for a rescue attempt of Earth's remaining survivors begin as scientists now fully understand the toxic and acidic effects of the contaminated Earth.

**1.1.1AJ- **The first space dome to be completed is officially named "Neo Earth" in recognition of Earth's tragedy. The other four space domes are also named as followed: Neo Alpha, Neo Zeta, Neo Epsilon, and Neo Gamma

**5.20.3AJ- **Neo Earth's preparations for a Terrestrial Rescue are complete. The ship for the mission is based on the design of the original M-Team ship but with many bio-hazard and acid protection agents coating the exterior and interior of the ship. Samuel Barlow, son of Mirco Barlow and his long time friend, Tezra Dartessius actively volunteer for this dangerous mission. Samuel vows on his life that he will not make the same mistakes his father did during their meteor destruction attempt, and are chosen to be the Commander and 2nd in command of the ship. Samuel has also chosen to name the ship based on his father's background. In memory of his father, Samuel crescents the ship "Mirco's Journey."

**5.25.3AJ- **Mirco's Journey begins decent into Earth's atmosphere. The ship proves to be quite successful against the acidic effects of the contaminated Earth.

**5.26.3AJ-** After traversing the entire Earth, Mirco's Journey has only been able to locate a small percentage of the few Earthlings that were left. This leads Samuel to believe that the 8 of remaining Earth Domes contracted too much radiation over the years and killed the inhabitants inside. However, there are 5 Earth domes giving off very faint signs of life. What has the entire Journey crew awed and amazed is that all 5 of them are right in the vicinity of the meteor's blast radius where Samuel once believed the radiation to be the strongest.

**5.27.3AJ-** Upon further investigation, Samuel has now come to the conclusion that the radiation is merely a shield for the meteor in the sense that the meteor itself is not producing the radiation but rather it somehow brought the radiation along with it. He also believes that the meteor itself is somehow the key to the remaining life on Earth. His only major concern now is the acidic aura surrounding the meteor which appears to be too strong for the acid protection agents aboard Mirco's Journey. Samuel is now faced with a decision much like his father's. He must either protect the well being of his crew members and abort the mission now or he must at least try to save Earth's only survivors and possibly find out the real truth behind the much feared meteor.

**5.28.3AJ- **After a full day of trying to contact the survivors, the Journey crew still have no response from them, and with it, no answers for their questions about the meteor. Finally after careful deliberation, Samuel decides that Mirco's Journey will try to break through the acid barrier using the full power of their anti-acid agents to protect it. Samuel realizes that this is risky but also realizes the people within the barrier are probably running low on food and water reserves by now. The crew is skeptical at first but Tezra stands by Samuel's decision and eventually convinces the rest of the Journey crew that the ship is capable of surviving this obstacle and that Samuel will succeed where his father Mirco failed. Thanks to Tezra's support, Samuel gives the order and Mirco's Journey is now in direct contact with the barrier. About half way through the barrier, there is a breach in the hull and Samuel knows how dangerous the acid could be to the crew and ship inside Mirco's Journey. Knowing this, he uses himself as a shield to fill the breach with his anti-acid suit. Because of this heroic effort, Mirco's Journey survives this ordeal and is now in the direct vicinity of the meteor. As Samuel suspected, there are no signs of any radiation within the barrier, as if the meteor itself was repelling it's own plague. And although Mirco's Journey has passed it's greatest challenge yet, Samuel has become seriously injured due to the extreme acid exposure he suffered trying to protect the crew within the ship.

**5.29.3AJ- **Knowing that Samuel doesn't have long to live, 2nd in command Tezra Dartessius decides to search for the remaining survivors in the hopes that he will find someone who knows how to treat Samuel's injuries. With half of the crew, Tezra rounds up all the survivors and instructs them to make their way to the ship. Tezra is amazed to find that the survivors are all in healthy condition after what he's seen the plague do to Samuel. Tezra informed the survivors about their situation when someone named Uberchest Gerdera stepped forward and claimed to be a doctor. After having a look at Samuel's injuries, Dr. Gerdera claims that there is nothing he alone can do to save Samuel's life but he does have a theory. Like Samuel, he believes that the meteor has some kind of power. At first he didn't know what this power was but then he realized that it must be some kind of healing power after witnessing how fast the survivors healed after enduring only a week of radiation sickness. Gerdera also informs Tezra that the meteor could be used to heal Samuel but realizes that Samuel's injuries are far too severe for them to heal as quickly as the survivors by merely staying on the ship and he also knows that Samuel won't survive in his weakened condition if they try to move him closer to the meteor. So Tezra decides that they will have to bring a piece of the meteor back to Samuel and hope it will be enough to save him.

**5.30.3AJ- **Seeing that Samuel's condition has only gotten worse, Tezra along with Dr. Gerdera and 3 Journey members, decide to travel deep into the heart of the cavern that the meteor punched into on it's decent to Earth. Using the scaling cables aboard Mirco's Journey, they make their way down deeper and deeper into the cavern. As they are about to reach the meteor, the crew's helmet lights go out. Thinking they won't be able to find the meteor without light, they are about to turn back when Gerdera notices that there is light below them.

As they come closer to the light, it becomes brighter until the crew is deep enough to see that the meteor itself is giving off this powerful aura. Once the crew is on top of the meteor, they begin to chisel pieces out of it. As Tezra begins to cut through it, he realizes that it is too hard to break through with his drill. After 2 hours of trying to cut through it, they realize the meteor is impenetrable and are about to give up when Tezra senses something strange from the aura. Suddenly Tezra removes his protective glove and puts his hand in direct contact with the meteor. The crew watches in amazement as Tezra then almost effortlessly digs his fingers into the meteor and pulls out a piece of it. Gerdera and the rest of the crew were about to do the same when suddenly they are hit with an extremely violent earthquake. Knowing that they've already got what they came for, the crew quickly tries to make its escape from the cavern by retracting their cables back to the surface and they narrowly escape with their lives. The crew then places the meteor by Samuel's bedside in the hopes that their leader will make a swift recovery.

**5.31.3AJ- **After taking a small fragment of the Journey's meteor piece, Dr. Gerdera goes to the ships research center to analyze it. His results show that the meteor does indeed have some kind of biological healing power, but Gerdera knew there had to be something more after witnessing the power that Tezra possessed as he pulled out the meteor piece. So Gerdera decides to conduct his own little test with the meteor fragment. While holding the fragment in his hand, Gerdera slams his fist into a piece of well-hardened concrete and shattered it as if it were a piece of glass. He tries the same thing again only this time he lets go of the fragment. He is still able to break it but it didn't seem as easy as before. Gerdera then theorizes that the healing powers are a mere side affect to the meteor's true power. Anyone who comes in direct contact with the meteor becomes infused with a temporary boost in physical and quite possibly mental abilities. But if they are not in contact with the meteor, the powers drain slowly from its user rather than disappearing all at once. Gerdera then decides to do further research on this matter after Mirco's Journey has returned to Neo Earth.

**6.5.3AJ- **After five long days of waiting, the meteor piece that Tezra and the others nearly died for has proven it's worth as Samuel makes a full and healthy recovery. But now the crew has a new problem on their hands. The barrier of extremely corrosive acid still looms over them and Mirco's Journey's acid protection was almost completely worn off from the last time they braved the barrier. Samuel, who has re-taken command, has one last idea. If they were to attach their piece of the meteor to the outside of the ship, it should be enough to withstand the barrier long enough for them to escape. Tezra suggests that the meteor piece they have might not be enough but due to the earthquake, he realizes that they can't go back to the cavern and recover more pieces. And since the cavern is closed off, the barrier has been inching its way closer and closer to ground level without the meteor giving direct exposure to the surface. The crew was about to go ahead with their plan when Gerdera stepped in and suggested something different. He pointed out that as the barrier gets weaker, the acid around it gets weaker as well, mainly because of the extra air particles the acid has to take up. So Gerdera suggested that the crew wait until the barrier was at it's weakest and then continue with their plan. Samuel, realizing that he owed a great debt of gratitude to this man for saving his life, decided that Gerdera's idea could save everybody aboard the ship.

**6.11.3AJ- **Now that the barrier is almost touching ground level, Samuel gives the order to launch Mirco's Journey back into space. Just as Gerdera predicted, the barrier was weak enough for Journey to escape and thanks to the help of their meteor piece, the ship was able to repel what was left of the acidic barrier much like the how the original meteor created the barrier in the first place. And now that their mission was finally complete everyone aboard Mirco's Journey, both crew and survivors alike, were ready to leave Earth behind and start their new lives.

**6.16.3AJ- **Mirco's Journey makes it's final landing on Neo Earth. Some of the survivors wanted to stay whilst others wished to be transferred to the other space domes so that they could be reunited with their families. Only 40 people out of the billions of lives that were lost made it back to civilization. All were grateful to the men and women, who risked their own lives to save them and with the new discovery of the meteor's incredible power, it seemed mankind's future was now brighter than ever. But all was far from well and the meteor piece although helpful in saving the life of Samuel Barlow would prove to be more of a disaster to mankind and would spiral the entire human race into a galaxy of turmoil in a future that not even Dr. Gerdera or the Journey Commanders could foresee…

**4.27.20AJ- **Nearly 17 years have passed since the rescue on Earth and with new technological breakthroughs, each of the space domes has now built their own mini expansion domes to contain the increasing population. These expansions are numbered after their predecessors (ex. Earth 1, Alpha 6, Zeta 3, etc.). Dr. Gerdera's research into the meteor has saved countless lives over the years and he has become a galactic hero because of it. However, the people of the Neo Zeta space domes have become quite discontent with the lack of meteor treatment they have been getting but Gerdera refuses to relinquish any of the Meteor pieces to them because of their previous misuse by the Neo Zetans. Many of them had used the meteor pieces to try to enhance their own bodies and make them almost superhuman instead of using them to cure diseases. Meanwhile, Samuel and Tezra were living in Neo Earth and even though tensions were beginning to mount between Neo Earth and Neo Zeta over who should have possession of the meteor shards, it seemed as though these two didn't want any part of it.

**4.30.20AJ- **Fey Barlow, Samuel's wife, gives birth to their son Nate Barlow. However, due to what is widely believed by doctors to be from Samuel's acid exposure, Nate has contracted a deadly disease and is issued to be meteorically treated as soon as possible.

**5.5.20AJ- **Violet Dartessius, Tezra's wife, has also given birth to a son just shortly after Nate. This child is named Azrael Dartessius. But this child has contracted a much more rare but no less deadly disease than that of Nate even though it seems to have no connection with Tezra embarking on the Earth rescue mission seeing as he wasn't exposed to any of the radiation.

**5.20.20AJ- **Both Azrael and Nate have been meteorically treated for over 2 weeks now but these diseases only seem to be getting worse, and their families fear the worst for them. It wasn't long until Gerdera stepped in and had a private word with both Samuel and Tezra about their dying sons. He explained to them that these diseases ran much deeper in their bodies and cannot be treated by mere meteor exposure. Gerdera's research has led him to witness extreme cases like this before and every time one of these patients was simply exposed to the healing powers of the meteor, it had little effect and none could be cured. However, Gerdera theorizes that if he were to surgically insert a shard of the meteor into the patient, then the disease could be destroyed from the inside. But Gerdera has feared for the longest time that this could overload the human body with it's incredible energy after he's witnessed it once before on one of his Neo Zetan patients and because of what happened, surgical meteor insertion was banned throughout the space domes. But this was on a full-grown person and Gerdera believed that a baby's high metabolic rates would have an easier time absorbing such power but he was still unsure of what could happen and was very resilient to even considering this theory. But Samuel and Tezra both knew that their sons could not survive these ordeals without some kind of advanced treatment and tried to convince Gerdera to go through with it. Gerdera knew that he would regret this decision but because Samuel and Tezra saved him all those years ago, he decided that he would do it under the condition that this operation remained in complete secrecy and that no one outside of both the Barlow and Dartessius families was to know about this.

**5.25.20AJ- **The operation is a success and Nate and Azrael are recovering at incredible speeds, as if their fatal diseases were common colds. As Gerdera predicted, the high metabolic rates of these children are able to absorb this power with ease but he advises that the meteor pieces remain within the children to help protect them from outside diseases. Samuel and Tezra are extremely grateful but Gerdera just hopes that the decision he made today doesn't come back to haunt him later…

**8.21.23AJ- **Neo Zeta's population has been claiming for many years now that they have sick people aboard their space dome. But Neo Earth is still skeptical in entrusting the shards in the hands of Neo Zetans and are still not giving in. Finally, recently elected Minister Agon Zartem of the Neo Zeta space domes has had enough of this nonsense and decides to take action. If the Neo Earthlings would not share their meteor shards, Neo Zeta will take them by force if necessary. But Zartem knows that they can't take them directly from Neo Earth as it is heavily defended to protect against previous Neo Zetan terror attacks. But Zetan spies report that Neo Epsilon is in possession of meteor shards and it is nowhere near as defended as Neo Earth. Neo Zeta's day of reckoning was at hand.

**8.26.23AJ- **Neo Zeta's best troops are sent to retrieve the meteor pieces from Neo Epsilon and secure what's rightfully theirs. They attacked swiftly and without mercy on the helpless

Neo Epsilonians. The Epsilonians tried to defend their dome but they were powerless to the Neo Zetans superior training and advanced weaponry. After wiping out most of the meager resistance, Neo Zeta claimed their prize, the Neo Epsilonian meteor shards. But that's not all, the Neo Zetan troops had one last order to carry out, one that would transform mankind's future forever. As punishment for Neo Earth's insolence, the Zetan troops were instructed to contaminate the entire dome by unleashing a plague through the oxygen plants. This "plague" was none other than the contamination that nearly wiped all of Earth's remaining survivors and now that Neo Zeta was in possession of it, they had become the most dangerous of all 5-space domes. After they polluted the air within Neo Epsilon, the Zetan troops escaped with their newly acquired meteor pieces and set a course for Neo Zeta.

**8.27.23AJ- **The effects of the contaminated Neo Epsilon had started to take effect on the lives of approximately 1.5 billion people. The tainted space dome was in complete anarchy as people ran rampant in the streets trying to search for the nearest escape pods. Had the contaminated oxygen plants been induced with a much stronger dose of the toxic plague, the Neo Epsilonians would have been killed instantly. But Neo Zeta knew better and because of Neo Earth's reluctance to co-operate, the plants were injected with just enough of the deadly toxin to make all of Neo Epsilon suffer for as long as possible. The Epsilonians cried out for help to their Neo Earth allies asking if they could board with Neo Earth for treatment of their disease. Neo Earth told the Neo Epsilonians that the meteor shards were on their way and that they should remain within the domes. Little did the dying Neo Epsilonians know that Neo Earth had a different intention in mind…

**8.29.23AJ- **Neo Epsilon scanners show a ship requesting to dock and assume it's the ship sent from Neo Earth containing the meteor shards. It was from Neo Earth all right but the Epsilonians came to realize that there were no meteor shards on board and when they came to know the truth about the real intention of the ship, it was too late. The ship contained an extremely potent nuclear explosive capable of leveling the space dome to rubble. That's exactly what it did too. Neo Earth triggered the bomb from a safe distance and laid waste to the helpless space dome to ensure that the plague didn't spread to the other domes.

**8.30.23AJ-** Because of the actions taken by both Neo Earth and Neo Zeta, the mere tensions that had escalated between these two suddenly became a personal vendetta with both sides having extreme distrust and hatred for one another. Neo Zeta believes that their actions were rightfully meant to teach Neo Earth a lesson and the fact that they poisoned the dome was irrelevant considering that Neo Earth could have saved the Epsilonians with their meteor shards instead of ruthlessly killing millions of innocent lives. But Neo Earth knew that they could not save that many people and because of the selfish Neo Zeta, the possible contamination of the other domes, mainly Neo Earth, was something they knew they could not afford to let happen and believed it was necessary to purge the space dome before the situation got out of hand.

**9.3.23AJ- **Even though the Earthlings and Zetans both believed the other was guilty of mass genocide, the remaining space domes Neo Alpha and Neo Gamma knew better than to trust either one and both had declared their independence from them and built defenses to ensure their neutrality and to make sure that their fates won't become the same as Neo Epsilon.

**4.24.24AJ- **NeoZetan engineers begin production of a new weapon to counter against Neo Earth's powerful defenses, a breakthrough in technology beyond anything man could have ever imagined, a mobile suit. This mobile suit, being the first of its kind, is named after the man who ordered their creation, Neo Zetan Minister Agon Zartem. The ZTAMS-09 ZARTEMA is the first successful model in the many attempts at trying to perfect humanoid-mech technology by the Zetan people. With this new weapon, Neo Zeta no longer considers itself as one of the original five space domes and therefore declares themselves as the Neo Zetan Freedom Fighters (NZFF).

**5.2.24AJ- **The NZFF knew they needed to test their new weapons before they use them against Neo Earth so they declare to the Neo Gamma space dome that if Neo Gamma doesn't join the NZFF, they will be the first to fall to their ZARTEMA mobile suits. Neo Gamma refuses, thinking that it's all just a ruse and that their defenses will hold off any NZFF aggression. But to the dismay of the citizens of Neo Gamma, that was just false hope. The NZFF proved to be more than a match for the Neo Gamma defense forces. The NZFF gave Neo Gamma one last chance to join their cause, otherwise they would spread the same plague that led to the destruction of Neo Epsilon. Knowing that the NZFF would carry out its threat, the citizens of Neo Gamma unwillingly decide to join their ruthless attackers in their cause against Neo Earth. Agon Zartem is pleased with the results of his brand new weapons and the pilots of these machines who were using the Neo Epsilon meteor shards to greatly enhance their mental abilities. It seemed that all would fall before his iron rule.

**5.3.24AJ- **Neo Earth is in disarray after learning of Neo Gamma's defeat to the NZFF. They knew that Zartem's mobile suits would easily decimate their beloved space dome if something were not done quickly. So Neo Earth decides to build it's own mass production mobile suits using similar components that make up the ZARTEMA. Meanwhile, news of the Neo Gamma defeat reaches the expansion dome Earth 3, home to both the Barlow and Dartessius families. Samuel knows that the space dome could quickly become a war zone if the NZFF attacked, so Samuel tells Tezra that it would probably be safer for their families if they were to head for Neo Alpha. Tezra is quite skeptical at first seeing as how Neo Earth is much more heavily defended than Neo Alpha but Samuel points out that NZFF's next target will most definitely be Neo Earth as attacking Neo Alpha wouldn't make any logical or strategic sense at this point, seeing as how Neo Gamma fell so easily to NZFF's last attack. However this would prove to be difficult as Samuel realizes they have no ship and the fact that Violet Dartessius was about to give birth to another baby didn't help matters either.

**7.15.24AJ- **Neo Earth has finally completed their mobile suit army and just as Samuel said, NZFF's next target was the heavily defended space dome of Neo Earth. Neo Earth's militant wing, the Crusaders of Blue Earth, give the NZFF one last warning to back off. But Zartem gave the order for his mobile suits to start attacking and the battle for Neo Earth was at hand. The Crusader's mobile suits, the CGD-30 VULCAN prove to be equally matched to NZFF's ZARTEMA mobile suits. As the battle raged on, Samuel and Tezra snuck their families aboard Mirco's Journey that was docked inside Neo Earth's hangar. Just as Samuel and Tezra were about to board the ship, Dr. Gerdera showed up for one final meeting with them. Samuel told Gerdera that he should come with them, but Gerdera said he would only endanger their lives by going with them. He told the former Journey commanders that his meteor research was largely responsible for the battle that was taking place and that he knew about Neo Earth's plans to blow up Neo Epsilon and didn't do anything about it. Before he bid farewell to the two men who saved his life so many years ago, Gerdera gave Tezra a shard of the meteor piece, just in case their 2nd born child contracted the same disease as Azrael did when he was born. As the battle raged on, Mirco's Journey made it's escape and was headed on a course for Neo Alpha.

**7.16.24AJ- **The battle for Neo Earth was over and it seemed as though the Crusaders were victorious in defending their homeland but it came with a high price. The casualties of both sides was at an enormously high rate and a few minor skirmishes between the Crusaders and the NZFF still remained in both Neo Earth and the space dome's orbit. The mobile suits had indeed proven themselves to be powerful weapons but Neo Earthlings and Neo Zetans alike were starting to question about whether or not they were doing more harm than good as soldiers were risking their lives for their superior's own selfish gains. Even though it was Agon Zartem who ordered the NZFF's retreat, many had felt that there was no victor in this horrific battle and that if the NZFF and the Crusaders don't settle their differences peacefully, this personal vendetta will soon become a galactic war and all of mankind will suffer because of it.

**7.17.24AJ- **Mirco's Journey has been granted access to the peaceful colony of Neo Alpha and it wasn't long after until Violet gave birth to her second son, Elijah. But unlike Azrael's birth, this baby was completely healthy and so Tezra decided to keep the meteor shard until he felt Elijah was old enough to receive it. And it seemed as though the Barlow and Dartessius families could finally live in peace. Meanwhile, the Crusaders of Blue Earth were uneasily celebrating their shallow victory and although it seemed as if the NZFF's mobile suits were decimated, they knew better than to assume that they had seen the last of them. And as the NZFF headed back for Neo Zeta, Agon Zartem swore he would have his revenge against the Crusaders for killing so many of his people in the previous battle. But he knew it would take time and he also knew his time was running out. He would have to choose a successor quickly if he was to preserve his glorious name.

But this was only the beginning, and even though the NZFF was crippled, the war would continue and the three children Nate Barlow, Azrael Dartessius and Elijah Dartessius would soon find themselves in the middle of this brutal conflict. How they will be involved is where their story begins…


	2. Meteor Child Awakens

**Mobile Suit GUNDAM Crusades**

**Chapter 1 - Meteor Child Awakens**

"Still trying to keep up with me Azrael? You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me." Nate said as he threw a stiff left jab followed by a roundhouse kick to his opponent.

"If you insist." Azrael replied as he blocked his opponent's attacks with relative ease.

The two combatants both held their ground against one another but it seemed Nate would have the upper hand as he tossed Azrael to the ground. But as he was about to lay the finishing blow, Azrael reacted quickly and kicked his opponent's legs out from under him. Before Nate realized what had happened, he found himself back first on the ground with Azrael sitting on top of him, his fist just inches away from Nate's face.

"Good! Alright that's enough for today." The Instructor said after his best students had finished their fight.

Azrael gave Nate a quick smirk as he helped his fellow student up from the ground. They had been waiting for this chance to test their fighting skills against one another and they were both satisfied at the progress they had made over the past few years.

"Congrats Azrael. But if I was more ready for this, I would have taken you down." Nate said as they left Master Gotara's Karate Gym.

"Yeah right. You sure gave me a workout, but I can tell from your tired expression that you were giving it your all." Azrael responded confidently.

"Whatever. So did you want to check out what's happening at the Forum?" Nate asked.

"Normally I would but I promised my mom that I would help her unpack some of the stuff at the new house." Azrael said.

"Oh yeah, you mean the house that's in the Alpha 3 expansion. It sucks you won't be living so close to us anymore." Nate said in a disappointed tone.

"Yeah but with my dad's new job being so close to there and my mom being the person who likes a less crowded area, I guess it's just better this way. And besides, it's not that far away when you think about it. Neo Alpha may be a large space dome, but it's only a few expansions away." Azrael said, trying to cheer his disheartened friend up.

"Yeah I guess your right. Oh well same time tomorrow then?" Nate asked.

"You know it." Azrael said.

And with that, Azrael made his way to the Neo Alpha high school.

"You're late!" the impatient Elijah scoffed

"Only by one minute, c'mon Elijah, you knew I had to take my test against Nate today." Azrael replied with sincerity.

"Yeah I guess" he sighed "So how did you do?"

"Let's just say it was a real close call." Azrael said, thinking back to the trip maneuver that clinched him the match. "So how was your day?"

"It was okay, nothing happened." Elijah said in a very unsure tone.

Sensing that something was bothering him, Azrael looked in his rear view mirror and saw what the problem was just by looking at his brother's face.

"Okay who was it this time?" Azrael asked.

"What are you talking about?" Elijah said with a hint of nervousness.

Azrael sighed at the thought of his brother thinking he could pull a fast one him. "Elijah, you have got to stop picking fights at school."

"He was the one who started it!" Elijah said defensively

"Uh-huh, that's the same thing you said about the other 5 kids you beat up. Look Elijah, I can't keep covering this up all the time." Azrael said

"Huh? What do you mean covering up?" Elijah asked puzzled

"C'mon Elijah, if mom ever found out you were beating up kids at school, she would think that you were learning this stuff from me, which you and I both know is probably true, and not to mention the fact that she would be more disappointed with you than Dad or me ever could be." Azrael said

"Really, well thanks, I guess." Elijah said in a very quiet tone

"Don't mention it. Literally." Azrael added

Meanwhile, Nate was making his way back to his house in the Neo Alpha residential area, still contemplating about how he could have handled his fight against Azrael better, but then he just decided that Azrael got lucky and that he would get him next time.

"Mom I'm home." Nate said as he walked through the front door.

"Hi Nate." Fey replied. "So how did it go with Azrael today?"

"Oh, it was a close match." Nate said "The instructor was pleased with our fight and suggested that we do a demonstration for the Neo Alpha High School."

"Wow that's great. So where's Azrael now? You guys are usually at the forum and your never home this early." Fey said puzzled

"Azrael's helping his mom with the unpacking at their new house." Nate replied

"Oh that's right, so how come you didn't go with him?" Fey asked

"I just figured he would've wanted me to stay out of the way while they got settled into their new place." Nate said in the same disappointed tone that he gave Azrael earlier.

And with that, Fey quickly knew what the problem was. "You're going to miss him being so close to us right?"

"Well…" Nate hesitated "I guess maybe a little bit."

"Nate, he's been your best friend ever since you two were little." Fey told him "Of course you are going to miss him, even though he'll still see you. Just not as often."

"Sure…" Nate said quietly.

Noticing how disappointed her son was at the thought of leaving his best friend behind, she decided to cheer him up. "Do you want to help him out?" Fey asked.

"What do you mean?" Nate asked

"I'll arrange it with Violet so you can go over there and help him with the unpacking, I'm sure he would enjoy your company wouldn't you agree." Fey said

"Really!" Nate found it hard to contain his excitement but he tried to cover it up quickly "Oh I mean, yeah if he wants me to."

As soon as Fey gave the OK, Nate was out the door, in his car and on his way to the new Dartessius Residence. "Ha ha" Fey snickered, "Those two are quite the pair. I'm going to miss having Azrael and Nate so close."

"Are you sure that this is completely necessary." The nervous Talquest asked his master.

"Yes if we are to ensure our victory over the Crusaders of Blue Earth, than this is the only way." The stalwart Agon Zartem explained to his minion.

"But how are we going to gain possession of their new mobile suits?" Talquest asked with much doubt in his heart.

"Do not worry about that." Zartem replied "Once our agents have infiltrated the Neo Earth space dome, it will be a simple matter of them assuming the identities of the original Crusader mobile suit pilots.

"But what are we supposed to once we are in possession of the mobile suits?" Talquest asked again. "Once they become ours, they won't stay ours for long if we try to bring them back to our ship. We'd have Crusaders on us in 5 minutes."

"(Sigh)…Walk with me Talquest." Zartem said as the two decided to talk about this issue somewhere more private.

As they made their way around the battleship, BASTION, Zartem's plans for the mobile suits were becoming clearer to his small minded peon.

"To answer your question from earlier Talquest…" Zartem began, "The Crusader's new mobile suits will not only be a boon to our already advanced mobile suits but they will prove to be a political advantage in the long run as well."

"So you intend to use them to hurt the reputation of the Crusaders and this will allow for more Neo Zetans to join the fray against them."

"Close…" Zartem said "Try a whole neutral space dome turning towards the NZFF."

"But how can you turn a whole space dome against the Crusader- oh…" Talquest said as he finally put together all the pieces of Zartem's plan.

"Now your catching on." Zartem said confidant that his protégé now understood what was going on. "Trust me my boy once this plan goes into action, the Crusaders will regret ever messing with the Neo Zetan Freedom Fighters."

"Nate, glad you could make it." Azrael said

"No problem man." Nate replied as he pulled his car into the driveway. "Wow, this place is huge!"

"Yeah it's certainly a step up from the other place." Azrael replied

Just then the rest of the Dartessius family came outside to greet the familiar visitor after a long day of unpacking.

"Ah Nate, your just in time for some of my home made lemonade." Violet said to her former neighbor.

"Thanks Mrs. Dartessius." Nate replied as he reached for a glass of the refreshing liquid.

"Hey Mom." Azrael started "Would it be alright if Nate and I went to the forum instead of unpacking?"

"Well…" Violet hesitated "You did promise to help with the unpacking, but I guess you can go for a little bit but only if you bring Elijah with you too."

"Alright, c'mon Elijah let's go." Azrael said as the trio went to Nate's car.

Just as Nate was pulling out of the driveway, Tezra stepped out to see what all the commotion was.

"So where are the boys headed?" Tezra asked

"Just to the forum, they'll be back later sweetie." Violet replied as she gave her beloved husband a kiss on the cheek. "Those two are sure lucky to have a friend like Nate."

"Yeah…" Tezra started and then thought about that fateful day on the operating table of the meteor shard test. "If only Azrael knew how deep their friendship really goes."

"Now Tezra, you know why we can't tell him that." Violet said knowing what her husband was thinking about. "If Azrael or Nate were to know about what happened that day then they might have a hard time dealing with it."

"Yeah your probably right." Tezra said "Azrael hasn't been acting abnormally has he?"

"No he seems perfectly alright." Violet replied "Other than curing his disease, I don't think the meteor shard has had any effect on him."

"Yes that's the part that scares me." Tezra said as if he was troubled by the matter

"What do you mean Tezra?" Violet asked wondering why Azrael being perfectly normal was such a bad thing.

"It's just that when I went on the Terrestrial Rescue mission all those years ago, I came in direct contact with the meteor and I became hit with the full power of it. For that brief moment I became God-like. But with Azrael, it seems like he needs the shard just to stay alive and act normal. Even though the disease inside of him was cured, it seems like if someone were to remove the shard, he wouldn't be able to survive without it." Tezra explained.

"But why would someone want to do that to our son?" Violet asked with a very worried look on her face.

"Because if someone were to find out about him, they would most likely try to take it from him. Remember that meteor shard insertion has been banned throughout the space domes as a result of Dr. Gerdera's previous experiments." Tezra said as he pulled out the meteor piece that was given to him by that very man. "And that's also why I don't want to expose any of this to Elijah, he doesn't need to know what this rock is capable of doing to him."

"But if this war continues, you may have to explain it to him sooner or later. You know that don't you Tezra?" Violet told him

As he put the shard back in his pocket, the former Journey commander muttered "I only hope that sooner or later aren't my only options. I would much prefer never."

"Man these Neo Earthlings are stupid." Said a cocky NZFF pilot to his 2 incognito partners

"Quiet down Renik, we are not out of the woods yet." The eldest and leader of the three replied

The three NZFF pilots made their way to the secret weapons lab with their stolen uniforms as their only protection from the Crusaders' watchful eyes.

"This isn't going to work, eventually they are going to know what happened Vagun." The final pilot said.

"By the time they figure that out, we'll be long gone from here and in possession of their newest mobile suits." Vagun said "Just make sure that you two don't act too suspicious while we are in there."

As they made their way to the outer chamber of the weapons lab, the NZFF pilots prepared the key cards they received while dealing with the previous owners of their Neo Earth pilot suits.

"Card key identification please." The electronic voice blurted out through the card identifier.

One by one, they all swiped their stolen cards through the machine.

"Thank you gentlemen, please proceed." The voice continued.

Just then the doors opened to reveal an elevator leading to the main lab. The pilots stepped in and planned their next move.

"What do you expect us to do once we're in there Vagun, just walk right up to them and take the mobile suits." The final pilot protested

"I wish you would stop worrying Cecil." Vagun started as they made their way down. "The hard part is over now so we don't need to wear these ridiculous uniforms anymore."

"Yeah because once we are in the lab it will be a piece of cake." The cocky Renik said "Not a Crusader guard in sight down there. We'll simply take them by force."

"But once they figure out we're down there, they'll sound the alarm and send everything they've got at us." Cecil explained still unsure of the plan

"And if you remember your assigned machine's activation code, we'll be long gone by the time they can do anything about us." Vagun replied as he took off his disguise revealing his red and black NZFF colors.

Soon the pilots were at the bottom level of the lab where the mobile suits were stationed. As they exited two lab scientists approached them.

"Hey! You guys aren't allowed in h…ahhhh!" before he could finish, Cecil took out the scientist with extreme accuracy using his high power machine gun.

The NZFF pilots made their attacks swift and without mercy taking out important targets to ensure that the mobile suits remained within their grasp. "Cecil you open the gate while Renik and I take our assigned machines. Then once we are ready, follow in your mobile suit." Vagun ordered

"Yes sir!" Cecil replied as he made his move for the gate controls

"Alright take the mobile suit Renik!" Vagun ordered his other teammate

"Roger!" Renik replied

Renik was extremely quick with the mobile suit as he had easily memorized the machine's activation code. As Renik boarded his mobile suit, Crusader guards started pouring into the lab

"There they are! Get them!" A Crusader ordered to the rest of his team.

Just then Renik activated the mobile suit's vulcan machine guns located on it's head

"Go Trisect Gundam!" Renik yelled as the guns on the mobile suit's head mowed down the impending Crusader guards.

Vagun was next to activate his mobile suit. "Hmmm… The CGX-98 Vanguard Gundam, interesting machine." He said as he scrolled through his weapons list.

As Vagun and Renik made their way out with their acquired Gundams, Cecil made a move for the last one. The base was on full alert now and he knew he had to try and steal the final machine. As Cecil was about to punch in the activation code, Crusader guards were closing in. After typing in the code, Cecil was ready to activate the last Gundam.

"C'mon Cecil! Hurry!" Vagun ordered through the Gundam's Comm-system.

"Close the gate! Don't let the last one escape." A high ranking Crusader ordered.

Seeing that he would be trapped if the Crusaders got a hold of the gate controls, Cecil activated his machine and fired a missile from one of his leg-mounted missile launchers. He watched in amazement as the missile contacted with the area containing the gate controls, taking out the controls and all the Crusaders within the area.

"Wow, now I see why they call this one the Barrage Gundam." Cecil said as he scrolled through his weapons list.

"Cecil what's taking you so long, we have to get out of here now!" Vagun ordered impatiently

"Right!" Cecil replied as he started to operate the mobile suits legs. Crusaders in the area tried to take the mobile suit down with machine gun fire, but as expected the Barrage Gundam was unaffected by such small scale weapons.

"Fire afterburners!" Vagun ordered as his mobile suit's afterburner jets were heating up.

The other two pilots did the same and within minutes, the stolen mobile suits were within striking distance of escaping the space dome through the docking bay. But it seemed the pilots would have to test their mobile suits sooner than expected as 4 CGD-30 VULCANs and one CGD-30C Commander Type VULCAN stood between them and the space dome's orbit.

"Halt! If you do not surrender your mobile suits, then we will have to take them back by force! You have 10 seconds to comply." The Crusader in the Commander type VULCAN warned to the stolen Gundam pilots.

"Alright team, attack formation Y!" Vagun ordered to his teammates.

"Roger!" Cecil and Renik replied

Just then, the pilots formed a defensive position with the Barrage in the back and the Vanguard and Trisect in front guarding Barrage's left and right flanks.

"Let's see what these machines can do!" Renik said

Renik scrolled through his list of weapons and found the one he was looking for. Then the Trisect pulled out what appeared to be a spear like weapon that charged up like a beam saber on both sides.

Vagun's machine, the Vanguard Gundam had 2 large gauss rifles that were mounted on the machines broad shoulders as well as 2 laser wrist blades for melee attacks.

And finally Cecil's newly acquired mobile suit the Barrage Gundam was basically a large artillery mobile suit, complete with 6 missile pods located on various parts of the machine and a heavy laser cannon that was mounted on the chest plate.

"Alright men, we'll have to take them down." The Crusader commander ordered to his pilots.

The VULANs were a mass production model, with standard machine gun and beam saber weapons. The Commander unit was equipped with a beam rifle instead of a machine gun and is a bit faster than it's mass production counterpart. Even though these machines were outdated, they still posed a threat to the NZFF's plan.

The Crusaders struck first by bombarding the 3 mobile suits with machine gun and beam rifle fire. Trisect stepped forward and twirled it's spear around to deflect the incoming bullets while the Vanguard used his leg mounted anti-beam SMART charges to protect the trio against the beam rifle. Then Cecil used the Barrage Gundam's afterburners to fly up over the anti-beam and spear shield and barrage the helpless and tightly clustered Crusaders with a volley of missiles and heavy laser fire. The four VULCANs were destroyed but the Commander Type managed to escape and made an attempt to destroy the Barrage Gundam in midair. But this proved to be a fruitless attack as the Vanguard fired his Gauss rifles and hit the unsuspecting mobile suit causing him to lose control of his machine. Then Trisect flew up and used his beam spear to cut right through the mobile suit's lower body in mid-air thus causing the machine to explode.

"Ha, not even worth bragging about." Renik said confidently

"Alright, let's stick with the plan shall we." Vagun started "Now that we are in possession of these mobile suits we will proceed with the rest of General Zartem's orders. All hands, set a course for the expansion dome, Alpha 3."

"Well now that was fun." Nate said as they left the forum.

"At least its better than unpacking." Azrael added.

"You know it!" Elijah added. "So what are we going to do next Nate?"

"Azrael I do believe this is your call." Nate said

"Well I guess I did promise to help with the unpacking didn't I?" Azrael said fully aware that he left in kind of a hurry. "We'd better head back."

"Aww come on Azrael, I'm sure mom and dad don't need our help." Elijah said

"We'll do this another time Elijah." Nate said backing his friend's decision

"Oh alright." Elijah said with a hint of disappointment.

And with that the trio made their way to the Alpha 3 expansion dome via Nate's vehicle and within minutes they were at the Neo Alpha-Alpha 3 border. As they were crossing into the expansion dome, they felt an extremely violent tremor that echoed through the ground.

"What's that?" Elijah asked his older brother

"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with that." Azrael replied as he pointed to a large cloud of smoke billowing in the distance.

"Azrael, isn't that near your house?" Nate said

"Oh no!" Azrael replied taking a closer look at the smoke cloud. "Hurry Nate step on it, mom and dad could be in danger."

"You got it." Nate said as he sped up the car.

"This just doesn't seem right Vagun! Why do we have to kill innocent civilians." Cecil protested

"Listen kid, I was at the battles of Neo Epsilon and Neo Gamma while you were still in diapers and I know that sometimes innocent lives have to die so that the cause will live on. So don't lecture me on what's right or wrong and just do your job." Vagun replied impatiently as he fired his gauss rifle at a nearby building

"But I…uh…" Cecil started to say while realizing that he couldn't really argue with his superior "Yes sir."

And with that the 3 stolen Gundams began to wreak havoc on the expansion dome laying waste to anything that crossed their path.

Meanwhile, Nate, Azrael and Elijah were close enough to see what was actually happening.

"Mobile suits! What are they doing here? Is the NZFF attacking us?" Nate asked

"Wait a minute." Azrael said examining the machines further "Those mobile suits belong to the Crusaders of Blue Earth!"

"What?" Elijah asked with extreme disbelief. "Why in the world would they be attacking us, aren't we on good terms with the Crusaders?"

"Apparently not, remember our dome declared itself independent because of the past actions of both the NZFF and the Crusaders." Azrael replied.

"I just hope mom and dad are far from here by now." Elijah said

"Me too Elijah." Azrael said "Me too."

As they made their way towards the Dartessius home, the trio noticed people fleeing from their homes in fear of the havoc that was taking place.

As the Gundams were hitting civilian targets and minor defenses with relative ease, 5 more mobile suits showed up inside the expansion dome.

"Ah, so the ZARTEMAs finally decided to show up. I was beginning to worry." Vagun said.

"Alright, now we can have some fun." Renik chuckled.

Cecil, who was still unaware of what was really going on, tried to warn the ZARTEMA pilots about whom was piloting these Crusader mobile suits. "Attention NZFF mobile suits, this is Private Cecil Gains of th-"

"You fool!" Vagun interrupted. "Neo Alpha spies could be listening in. Don't you remember what the plan was?"

"What do you mean?" Cecil asked

"Argh! I'm surrounded by imbeciles!" Vagun retorted "The plan was to take these 3 mobile suits and start destroying the expansion dome. Then when our forces arrive, they will attempt to take us out to make it look like they are trying to defend Neo Alpha from the Crusaders. So you see, we are really just setting up Neo Alpha to join our cause by making the Crusaders look bad.

"Alright…I understand." Cecil replied.

"Remember, only damage the ZARTEMA's, don't destroy them." Renik added "We don't want to be killing any of our own pilots."

"Alright Renik, you and I will use close range weapons only! Cecil you will bombard the enemy just as before, only this time concentrate your fire on the ground in front of the mobile suits instead of aiming for them." Vagun ordered.

"Roger!" the team replied.

Meanwhile the commander of the ZARTEMA team was also playing a major role in this grand scheme of events.

"Alright men, those are our boys in there. Remember we are trying make sure that we look like we are defending this space dome so make sure that you don't destroy any civilian targets and once your mobile suit gets damaged, leave and get out of there quick. That's an order!"

"Yes sir!" the other ZARTEMA pilots replied.

The ZARTEMAs, like the Crusader's VULCANs, were a mass-produced, outdated mobile suit with standard weapons. But even while using these weapons, they still made a convincing attempt at defending the neutral dome.

"Take this!" Renik shouted as the Trisect shoulder tackled one of the ZARTEMAs to the ground

"Time for you guys to take your exit." Vagun said as he fired one gauss rifle, which blew a ZARTEMA's left arm off. Then he fired his other one and knocked the ZARTEMA down. Then the ZARTEMA pilot ejected the mobile suit and left.

Cecil was having trouble adjusting his aim though; he kept firing at the mobile suits when he was trying to simply hit the ground in front of him. "Come on, keep it together Cecil." He said to himself trying to keep a level head in the ensuing chaos.

"Dad!" Azrael shouted as he saw his father outside of the house. "What's going on around here?" and then he took a closer look around "Dad where's Mom?"

"I don't know, a minute ago she was right behind me. She must have got scared and froze or something." Tezra replied. "I'm going back in for her."

"What?" Azrael said "But what about you. It's too dangerous to stick around here."

"Look Azrael, just take Nate and your brother as far away from here as you possibly can. Your mother and I will be fine."

"But…Dad…I…alright." Azrael said as he made his way towards the car

"Wait Azrael!" Tezra shouted.

"What is it dad?" Azrael asked as if his father had forgotten something.

Then Tezra gripped the meteor piece in his hand and pulled it out of his pocket, giving it to his son. "Azrael, if something should happen to me in there…give this to your brother."

"What is it?" Azrael said puzzled.

"Please Azrael, just give to him." Tezra replied. "If this war continues, both you and Elijah will come to know what it is."

"Alright dad. I will." Azrael said "But you just make sure you come back to us safe."

And with that, Tezra ran back into the house to look for Violet while Azrael got back into the car.

"Drive Nate." Azrael said.

"But what about Mom and Dad?" Elijah asked

"They'll be fine, just go." Azrael ordered.

And as they made their way down the long driveway, Tezra was searching high and low for Violet, until he found her lying under a heavy board that was dislodged from the previous tremor. "Violet!" he screamed as he saw the trouble she was in.

"Tez…Tezra." Violet said softly as the board had severely damaged her spinal cord, having the pain made it difficult for her to speak. "Sweetie, I'm…dying."

"No, No!" Tezra shouted trying to hold back his tears. "Your going to be fine…I…I promise."

"No…I can tell by your expression…I won't make it. Please just…save yourself." Violet pleaded.

Tezra could see for himself that even if the board was removed, he wouldn't be able to move her in the condition she was in. "No I'm going to stay with you, no matter what happens, I won't leave you here."

"Oh honey…what about Elijah and Azrael?" Violet asked.

"They are old enough to know the truth now. I have good a feeling that they can take care of themselves, as long as Elijah has Azrael and Nate to watch over him, they will be just fine." Tezra replied softly. "No matter what happens darling, hold on to my hand and don't let go."

"I won't let go." Violet said as she gripped his hand as tightly as she possibly could.

It seemed as though the former Journey commander and his wife's fate were sealed for at that very moment, one of the Barrage Gundam's high powered missiles went astray from it's intended target and hit that very house, causing debris to go everywhere. Just as Nate was leaving the driveway, the trio had just witnessed what had happened.

"No! Mom! Dad!" Elijah screamed as he got out of the car and started running back towards the house.

Just then Nate grabbed Elijah to make sure that he didn't get hurt. "No Elijah, you can't go back there it's too dangerous."

"I have to do something, we can't just leave them there." Elijah cried

"No Elijah, it's too late…we can't save them now." Nate replied

"But…but…" Elijah broke down into tears as he realized that what Nate had said was true. There was no way that either of them could have survived that.

Meanwhile, Azrael was still in the car, staring blankly at the smoldering house, deeply in shock over what had happened. "No it's not possible, it's not true, they can't be…" he kept saying over and over again.

"Come on Elijah, we have to find an escape pod fast before the Crusaders destroy this whole expansion dome." Nate said as he pulled Elijah to his feet.

Once they were back in the car they made their way to whatever escape pod was available while avoiding the debris that was lying around from the intense battle.

"There's an escape pod." Nate said as they were heading towards it.

Once they got there, Azrael was still trying to recover from what he had witnessed when he noticed something. One of the ZARTEMAs had fallen near the area but it still looked as if it was still functional.

"Do you have anymore room for us in there?" Nate asked the man who was in charge of this escape pod through the intercom

"How many of you are there?" the man replied

"There are 3 of us." Nate said.

"Yeah alright but be quick about. We've already got injured aboard this pod and we don't need to have anymore."

"Come on Azrael get in." Nate said as he and Elijah were getting in. "We have to leave now."

As Azrael was making his way onto the lifepod, he still couldn't stop thinking about the ZARTEMA that was nearby. Then he pulled the meteor shard he was carrying and gave it to Nate. "Give this to Elijah."

"What is it?" Nate asked him.

"I'm not sure but just give it to him." Azrael replied as he stepped off the pod.

Just then Nate grabbed his arm. "Hey where do you think your going?" he asked.

"I'll be fine just give that thing to Elijah." Azrael replied impatiently

"Wait a second Azrael, Elijah has already lost both of his parents and I am not going to let him lose his only brother too." Nate said sternly

Then Azrael pushed Nate back into the pod and closed the door on him. He then went to the intercom to communicate with Nate one more time. "I know you don't understand Nate but this is something I have to do. Those Crusaders have to pay for what they did here today and I'm going to make sure that happens. Take care of Elijah for me ok."

And with that Azrael made his way to the ZARTEMA mobile suit that was lying near him. "I swear I'll get my revenge for what they did to you mom and dad. They won't live long enough to regret their fatal mistake!"

"Alright! That's the last of the ZARTEMAs." Renik said as he incapacitated the final machine.

"Good, now let's proceed with leveling the rest of this place." Vagun ordered

"Yes sir!" Renik and Cecil replied.

As they were destroying what was left of the meager Neo Alpha resistance, Cecil noticed another heat signature show up on his radar screen. "What the hell? Sir, it looks like one of the ZARTEMAs has reactivated."

"What?" Vagun asked puzzled "Oh damn that idiot, he must have forgotten to turn off his auto-drone switch off." Vagun said. "Take it out Renik."

"It'll be my pleasure sir." Renik replied as the Trisect charged up its spear.

As Renik made his way closer to what he believed to be a defecting mobile suit, the ZARTEMA pulled out it's beam saber and waited for the Gundam to get closer. The Trisect then took one mighty swing at the ZARTEMA but it missed as the ZARTEMA swiftly ducked and swung it's beam saber slicing off the Trisect Gundam's leg.

"Ahhh! What the hell?" Renik said as he tried to pull back.

Then the ZARTEMA charged after the wounded Trisect Gundam and used its beam saber to cut right through the cockpit of the mobile suit, killing Renik instantly. Then the ZARTEMA put away it's beam saber and took the Trisect's spear for his own use.

"Renik!" Cecil said through the comm-system trying to find out if he was alright.

Vagun knew better however, he knew that Renik was dead and he saw how he had died, but the question on his mind was why he had to die. He knew this plan inside and out and he knew that this machine was too powerful to be a drone. He also knew that if an NZFF pilot were using it, he wouldn't have attacked to try to destroy the Trisect Gundam. This left Vagun with one conclusion.

"Cecil, that's not a drone. Somebody is piloting that mobile suit and it's not one of ours." Vagun warned.

"How can you tell?" Cecil asked.

"Because no other NZFF pilot that I know of would even come close to beating Renik, let alone killing him with an inferior machine. Whoever this guy is, he is obviously a very skilled pilot and a deadly weapon with a mobile suit." Vagun pointed out. He then opened his comm-channel to the ZARTEMA's but he kept his video link off to keep the mysterious pilot from recognizing his uniform. "Attention NZFF mobile suit, this is Lieutenant Fengar Edimont of the Crusaders of Blue Earth." He said keeping his real identity a secret. "Cease your actions and identify yourself or we will be forced to destroy you."

Then the pilot switched on his comm-system and responded. "You want to know who I am? Fine then listen good you scum because you won't live long enough to hear it again, my name is Azrael Dartessius."

"Dartessius, the same Dartessius that was part of the famous Terrestrial Rescue?" Vagun asked.

"No, because thanks to your actions here, he's dead. I am his son and now I've come for vengeance on all of the Crusaders for what you did to him!" Azrael shouted as he sent the ZARTEMA straight at the Vanguard Gundam.

The Vanguard Gundam charged its wrist beam sabers and fought furiously with the surprisingly powerful ZARTEMA unit. "How is he fighting so well? These are supposed to be top of the line mobile suits and we are having trouble dealing with this obsolete unit." Vagun said as broke away from the struggle to fire his gauss rifles at the ZARTEMA.

Azrael managed to shift out of the way just in time as the gauss rifle rounds contacted with a nearby building. Then he used the ZARTEMAs newly acquired spear to slash off one of the Vanguard's hands, thereby eliminating one of the wrist beams.

It was then that Vagun knew the truth about his opponent. The mobile suit's quick reflexes, the unbelievable force in his attacks and the suspecting fact of a Dartessius's lack of knowledge of piloting a machine of such power pointed to one thing.

"The meteor…" Vagun uttered as the ZARTEMA pierced the Vanguard's cockpit, killing another Crusader imposter.

Azrael then opened his channel to the final Gundam. "It's just you and me now…Crusader."

"Stop this Azrael, we are not your enemy." Cecil pleaded with the vengeful Azrael.

"It was your missile, wasn't it? It was you who killed them! You are a Crusader of Blue Earth and you took their lives without reason! Of course you are my enemy! But now thanks to your mistake, all of the Crusaders will now fall by my hand, this I swear!" Azrael proclaimed to the fake Crusader.

"He believes so strongly that it was the Crusaders who did this, it seems like he'd do anything to exact his revenge on them, and above all else, he doesn't suspect that we are NZFF pilots. I guess this plan really did work." Cecil said to himself.

"Die Crusader bastard!" Azrael shouted as he fired his afterburners straight at the Barrage Gundam.

"Your not going to get me that easily." Cecil said firing dozens of missiles at the lone ZARTEMA.

Azrael quickly reacted by using the jets to fly upward over most of the missiles. Some of the missiles followed but Azrael had no trouble with them as he took them out one by one with the ZARTEMA's machine gun.

"Okay let's see how you handle this." Cecil said using his heavy laser cannon to take out the rogue mobile suit.

"Damn, this one is going to be a little more tricky." Azrael said trying to keep away from the deadly laser fire. Then he started to fly closer towards his remaining enemy. But the Barrage Gundam still managed to hit his ZARTEMA with the cannon, damaging its left arm and destroying the Trisect spear.

"I gotcha now!" Cecil shouted as he fired one more cannon round to finish off the ZARTEMA.

Just then the ZARTEMA jumped right over the cannon blast and flipped over the Barrage Gundam. Then while inverted, the ZARTEMA pulled out its beam saber and dove straight at the Barrage, slicing it in two from the waist.

"He…He will be the greatest…Freedom Fighter…ever. Our deaths will be…worth at least that." Cecil whispered as the Barrage Gundam exploded from the extreme damage it took from Azrael's attack.

"It's over…" Azrael thought to himself as he stood the ZARTEMA upright. "I killed them all and yet I feel no sympathy, no remorse, for any of them. Damn those Crusaders, they will all pay for this."

And with that the only mobile suit left standing flew out of the smoldering expansion dome and headed towards the nearest NZFF ship located on it's radar screen, the BASTION.


	3. The Trial of Trust

-1

"Do you think he's alright?" Elijah asked concerned about his brother.

"I'm sure he's fine Elijah. He's a very resourceful person, I'm sure he found another way out." Nate said cheering Elijah up somewhat.

"Well then I guess that's good." Elijah replied quietly.

"You had better be alive Azrael." Nate thought to himself "I don't want to be the one to tell him that you aren't."

Just then Nate was about to give Elijah the meteor shard when the drifting escape pod came to an abrupt halt.

"Are we being rescued?" Elijah asked.

"I don't know. It seems like it is too early for them to come and find us." Nate said.

The escape pod was being loaded onto a ship that was apparently rescuing the survivors of this terrible ordeal. And it wasn't long after that their particular escape pod was being opened. Once they came out, Nate and Elijah immediately identified their rescuers.

"The Crusaders?" Elijah asked in disbelief.

"What is this? And why did you attack Alpha 3?" Nate asked an officer very impatiently.

"Calm down will ya." The officer replied. "Please proceed to the waiting room. The Commander is going to explain everything to you momentarily."

As they waited, more escape pods were drifting into the ship, many carrying injured civilians that were in need of serious medical supervision.

"Why do you think that we are the only ones in here Nate?" Elijah asked as he was looking around the room.

"Maybe they want something from us." Nate replied thinking about the shard he was still holding.

They waited for a few more minutes when another officer came in and introduced himself.

"Good evening gentlemen. Nate, right this way." He said

"Wait here Elijah, I'll be right back." Nate

"Okay." Elijah replied

After leading him further into the ship, they came to what appeared to be the control tower of the ship and were instructed to go inside.

"Have a seat, Nate." Someone who appeared to be the commander of the ship instructed.

"Just why have you called me here?" Nate asked suspiciously.

"Ah yes, I'm sure you've got many questions about why the Crusaders were attacking Alpha 3. I assure you that those questions will be answered very soon." He told them

He then took a long sip of the drink that was in front of him, and introduced himself. "I am General Jarvis, and I am the Commander of this ship, the Valiant."

"So what makes me so important General?" Nate asked again.

"Well, I am confident that he be able to answer that." Jarvis said as someone else entered the control room.

It didn't take long for Nate to recognize the familiar face that had appeared before him.

"Dad?" Nate asked puzzled by the fact he was wearing a Crusader uniform.

"Son, we need to talk." Samuel Barlow said.

"About what?" Nate asked.

"About something I should have told you about a long time ago." Samuel replied

"Sir! A lone ZARTEMA unit is requesting to board the BASTION." A mechanic reported.

"What? The ZARTEMA pilots are supposed to come back after the Gundams have returned and they are supposed to use the shuttle! Haven't the Gundam pilots completed their mission yet?" The impatient Zartem scowled.

"No sir, but the pilot of the ZARTEMA claims to be from the Alpha 3 space dome." The mechanic replied.

"Well of course he is, that's where we sent the ZARTEMAs in the first place." Zartem retorted.

"No sir, I mean he is actually claiming to be a citizen of Alpha 3. And he is not wearing a pilot uniform or anything." The mechanic added.

This took Zartem by surprise as he took a moment to contemplate what he had just heard.

"Very well patch him in." Zartem finally ordered.

"Yes sir." The mechanic replied.

As soon as he was patched in, Zartem saw the face of this mystery pilot.

"Who are you pilot?" Zartem asked.

"My name is Azrael Dartessius and I am a citizen of Alpha 3…or at least I was." Azrael added as he still felt the sting of what had happened.

"Very well Azrael and just what is it you hope to accomplish here?" Zartem asked.

"I wish to join your fight against the Crusaders." Azrael replied.

"By stealing one of our mobile suits and bringing it back here? How can we be sure that you are not an enemy spy Azrael?" Zartem asked.

"Would a spy destroy the 3 mobile suits who caused the death of his family?" Azrael replied.

"Wait a second, are you saying that the 3 Crusader mobile suits that were on Alpha 3…are destroyed?" Zartem asked curiously.

"Yes, I destroyed each mobile suit on my own after your soldiers fought to try and defend our space dome. I don't know what your intentions were but I am grateful for what you did. But one of your mobile suits had fallen and there was no pilot to be found and after I assumed he escaped, I took control of this lone unit and…did what I had to." Azrael reported.

"Uhh…please wait a moment while we confer on this." Zartem said as he turned off the comm-switch.

"What just happened there?" Talquest asked as he had witnessed the whole conversation

"I don't know but I think I had better confirm this ridiculous report." Zartem said puzzled. "An inferior machine destroying 3 highly experimental mobile suits. I've never heard anything so foolish in my life."

He then contacted the ZARTEMA team that was still on Alpha 3.

"Sergeant what just happened down there. Where are the Gundams?" Zartem asked.

"Destroyed sir, I don't know exactly what happened but one of my men claimed he saw what appeared to be a civilian enter one of the ZARTEMAs and activated it. And from what we saw sir, it looked like the Gundams never had a chance once this lunatic started attacking them." The team commander reported.

"Th…thank you Sergeant. Please remain on Alpha 3 with your team until further orders." Zartem ordered.

"Yes sir." The Sergeant replied.

The events that had just taken place had completely taken the unusually quiet Agon Zartem by surprise. "This…this is impossible. How could such a weak mobile suit even be considered in the same league as those behemoths?"

"Could it be that the data we collected on the Crusader mobile suits was inaccurate?" Talquest suggested.

"No Talquest, you and I knew how powerful those machines were." Zartem replied. "Wait a minute, could the pilot be a…no he couldn't be." Zartem rambled.

"What sir?" Talquest asked.

"…But maybe." Zartem then turned the comm-channel back onto Azrael. "Alright Azrael, we'll let you join us. But under one condition." Zartem said.

"Name it." Azrael replied.

"You must prove your worth before me. If you can defeat 3 of our mobile suits using that machine you are piloting now in a Trial of Trust, you will be wholeheartedly welcomed into our cause. Should you fail, however, you will be deemed a Crusader spy and will be terminated." Zartem said.

"Great…" Azrael replied sarcastically "Fine then, I accept your terms. Bring em' on."

"Not here Azrael, I have a much more…suitable arena in mind." Zartem said with a smirk on his face. "Go to Zeta 8, your challenge will await you there. I shall witness your skills personally."

"Alright…sir." Azrael said as the ZARTEMA headed for Zeta 8.

"Talquest prepare my transport, you are in command of the BASTION until I get back." Zartem ordered.

"Uhh y…yes sir." Talquest stuttered.

Once he was on the transport unit, Zartem contacted NZFF Headquarters.

"What do you request of us Lord Zartem?" A Zetan soldier asked.

"Prep the Basila team for combat on Zeta 8. We are expecting a visitor. Tell them not to attack the intruder until I have arrived to personally give the order." Zartem ordered.

"Right away sir." The soldier replied.

"Now then Azrael, let's just see if you've got what it takes to be an NZFF soldier." Zartem thought "If I'm right about you, then you just might be the best."

"The meteor is…inside of me?" Nate asked after just hearing his father explain it to him.

"Yes son. Please understand that we had no other choice." Samuel pleaded with his son.

"But…why? Why pick me for such a dangerous experiment?" Nate asked sounding more worried.

"Because when you were born, you had contracted a life threatening disease that doctors believed had a connection with the terrestrial rescue as I had been poisoned with the Earth's toxic cloud. Although, the meteor had saved my life, it still must have passed down to you. We tried to simply expose you to the healing effects of the meteor, but it just wasn't good enough. So we had only one option left." Samuel explained.

"You placed the meteor within me to…cure me?" Nate presumed.

"We didn't want to lose our son and we were even concerned about what the meteor would do to you but we knew it was our only hope. Sure enough the disease had been cured, but we didn't want to remove the meteor afterwards because…" Samuel stopped as the memory of what Gerdera told him came flooding back.

"Because what?" Nate asked.

"Because we were afraid that you had become dependent on the meteor for survival and that if removed, the meteor could no longer help to function your vital organs. We feared that if the meteor had left you, you would die." Samuel explained.

"So since I was a dying baby, I have been carrying a piece of why this war began. And you never told me about it until now?" Nate asked impatiently.

"I figured I wouldn't need to tell you if the war had ended, but unfortunately I was wrong. I know I should have told you so many times before but it was still a matter of trying to keep this a secret from the rest of the galaxy. If people knew you were a meteor child, they would try to take it from you. Meteor insertion was banned throughout the galaxy remember." Samuel reminded his son.

"Alright I can understand what you are trying to tell me but you still haven't answered my questions from before. First why did the Crusaders attack Neo Alpha and second why have Elijah and I been brought here?" Nate demanded.

"To answer your first question…" General Jarvis broke in. "…we rescued the citizens from Alpha 3 because it wasn't the Crusaders who attacked it. Those 3 Crusader machines were a new experimental type of mobile suit that were stolen by the NZFF about 6 hours ago." Jarvis continued as he started showing Nate the surveillance footage of the 3 NZFF pilots raiding the weapons facility.

"These 3 broke into the lab and, judging by their recent actions, used these 3 Gundams to wreak havoc upon a smaller expansion within the Neo Alpha space dome to try and frame the Crusaders and get Neo Alpha on the NZFF's side." Samuel added.

"To an extent, I'd say their plan worked, we've lost over half the support of the Neo Alpha space dome and it's becoming harder to convince them that it was an NZFF propaganda scheme." Jarvis said.

"But here is where the NZFF had complications and I do believe this will answer your second question Nate." Samuel started "We have reports from the Alphans who still trust us that these 3 Gundams were destroyed not too long ago. Just take a look at this." Samuel said showing new footage on the screen.

This time the surveillance screen showed the battle between the stolen Gundams and the lone ZARTEMA. "The rest of the ZARTEMA team feigned defeat against the Gundams to try and fool Neo Alpha into thinking that NZFF was on their side. But someone activated this lone unit and attacked all 3 of the experimental mobile suits. None of them stood a chance." Samuel said as he was demonstrating this to Nate. "His timing was perfect, his reflexes were unmatched and his power was almost God-like with such a weak machine. We can only assume that he had the characteristics of a meteor child. No human being could ever pilot a machine like that even by just holding a piece of the meteor."

Then Samuel turned off the screen and stared blankly at it for a while trying to find out how to fix the problem he got himself so far into. "Nate…there was only one other person that we know of who became a meteor child."

"Who is…oh no. Dad what have you done? You don't mean to say that…" Nate said realizing the cruel irony of the situation.

"Yes son…Azrael, the friend you have known since the day he was born possesses the same gift as you. His life threatening disease was not connected to the terrestrial rescue but it was no less deadly than yours." Samuel said. "But I'm afraid that the death of Tezra and Violet has probably stirred up his hatred for the Crusaders so badly that the meteor has activated an even greater power within him and that makes him dangerous." Samuel explained.

"So the reason you need me…is to try to convince Azrael to listen to reason and tell him who's really responsible for the destruction of Alpha 3. And that's why you brought me here." Nate replied in disbelief.

"You do understand why he can't fall into NZFF hands, if he were to side with the Freedom Fighters, it would be the end of us." Jarvis stepped in.

"And just how am I supposed to do that, he wouldn't even listen to me when I told him to stay with Elijah in the escape pod." Nate retorted.

"General Barlow, I fear that it's too premature to try and sway the meteor child to try and join us. He may assume that we are lying and won't hesitate to attack. I've already got reports that the ZARTEMA is heading back to Neo Zeta." Jarvis said.

"Damn, we can't risk it now. We'll have to wait until Azrael shows his face again." Samuel said

"But we can't just leave him there and what about Elijah, he would be able to convince him as good as anyone to come back to us." Nate pointed out.

"We can't take that chance Nate. There would still be the chance that Elijah would follow his brother to the NZFF. He is still convinced the Crusaders are his enemy as well and we may need him later as he is the only Dartessius we managed to recover from Alpha 3." Samuel replied.

"I see." Nate said.

"One last thing Nate. You wouldn't happen to have overheard anything about there being a second shard of the meteor in Tezra's hands before he died did you? It was to be entrusted to Elijah if he had a rare disease like you and Azrael but he turned out perfectly fine. It would be helpful if you would give us any information about it so we could retrieve it." Samuel added.

Nate then immediately knew what he was in possession of at that very moment. He was carrying the very piece of the meteor that Azrael wanted to give Elijah before he took off. But Nate was still not sure if he was willing to give up something that was entrusted to him by his best friend. "No, I have no idea if there was another meteor shard or not. Can I go now?" Nate asked.

"Yes I do believe we are finished here." Samuel concluded. "Just make sure that you give us any information if you come across it."

"Yes…father." Nate replied silently as he left the control tower.

"Zeta 8, I should be close already." Azrael said checking his radar screen.

As he came closer to the expansion dome, he noticed something about his destination point. "Why is Zeta 8 detached from the whole space dome. It must be a rejected expansion, hopefully Alpha 3 won't share the same fate." He thought to himself.

Then he used the ZARTEMA to fly right into the expansion dome. Once he got in, he felt an immediate change in temperature.

"Ugh…this whole expansion dome is one giant desert. No wonder it's detached from the mainland." Azrael thought.

Just then a shot was fired right past the unsuspecting ZARTEMA. Azrael saw it and immediately moved out of the way. "It looks like my challenge has arrived" Azrael said.

"So you're the pilot who took down 3 Gundams with that mobile suit eh?" A loud raspy voice echoed through his comm-link.

"He doesn't look so tough boss." A younger voice responded.

"Boys, calm down, you know how dangerous underestimation can be. I have no doubt in mind that this guy is an excellent mobile suit pilot." A woman's voice followed.

Then a mobile suit charged Azrael from behind and hit him hard with a beam saber. Azrael managed to turn around and block it but the ZARTEMA had still taken damage from such a hard hit. "But that still doesn't mean that you will be able to beat us." The woman continued.

Then the other 2 mobile suits showed up and surrounded him. "Well now, shall we begin?" she asked.

"Just who are you guys?" Azrael asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners. I am Lieutenant Carol Basila and these are my associates, Tank and Guard. It's nothing personal but we have been given orders to destroy you." Carol replied.

The mobile suits that had just shown up before Azrael appeared to be newer models than that of his obsolete ZARTEMA. To his left, the enormous ENSOT machine that appeared to be more of an enormous tank than a mobile suit possessing numerous cannons on its front, sides and back. To his right, the RESISTOT mobile suit that had numerous shields on it's body and appeared to be quite the defensive weapon. His opponent dead center was Carol's ZYROT, the machine that attacked him earlier. This mobile suit was similar to the ZARTEMA apart from being more maneuverable and equipped with a custom beam shotgun for up-close attacks.

"Well then I guess I'm going to have to fight you then." Azrael said.

The ENSOT fired a few rounds at the ZARTEMA and as soon as Azrael dodged the attack, the ZYROT charged and fired furiously at the lone machine. The ZARTEMA strafed its attack easily and made a move to take out the ZYROT. But the RESISTOT swooped in and blocked Azrael's attack with the shield on its right arm.

"Hiding behind your lackeys for protection Lieutenant?" Azrael taunted to his opponent.

"I'll show you what it means to be a pilot Alpha trash." Carol scowled.

As the 4 machines were fighting fiercely, the ever-watchful Agon Zartem was observing closely from the safety of his personal ship.

"This is proving to be very interesting." Zartem said.

But there was one person who was watching the battle from a different perspective. "Are you sure about this Lord Zartem, I mean what exactly is this going to prove."

"Ah Lady Maieva, so good of you to express your opinion to us." Zartem joked.

"Lord Zartem, please do not call me by that name. We are trying to keep my identity secret from our enemies and that is simply not possible when you insist on using it." Maieva replied.

"Of course, how foolish of me…Miss Kyte." Zartem said redeeming himself.

"As I was saying before, why must this so called, Crusader spy, be pitted in such an unfair trial. His mobile suit is damaged and he is against 3 of our best, and that hardly seems like a Trial of Trust on our part." Maieva explained.

"This isn't a Crusader spy, that much is certain." Zartem replied. "I am simply trying to discover this young man's hidden abilities. I believe he possesses a meteor shard within his body."

"But that is simply not possible Lord Zartem. No one is able to withstand such a power within his body." Maieva said.

"Just keep watching and we will see if that is indeed true, Miss Kyte." Zartem replied.

"You are not going to win Neo Alphan!" Carol screamed as she lunged at him with her ZYROT.

"Just try it!" Azrael yelled right back.

The ZYROT and ZARTEMA were then caught in an extremely tense battle. Carol was matching Azrael's attacks blow for blow and it seemed with the support of her two mobile suit lackeys, Azrael didn't stand much chance. Every time Azrael tried to strike one of the mobile suits, the other 2 would respond quite fiercely and throw Azrael completely off. Even worse was the fact the ZARTEMA didn't have anti-heat coating and Azrael was starting to really feel the heat of this barren place.

"You are a good mobile suit pilot Azrael, I'll give you that much." Carol began. "But you won't be joining our cause any time soon because when I'm through with you, that will be the last thing on your mind."

"Ugh…I'm…I'm not finished just yet." Azrael said exhausted.

"I'll be the judge of that!" Carol said lunging the ZYROT at the damaged ZARTEMA again.

Beam saber to beam saber, these two machines became locked in a death struggle, throwing everything they had at each other. Carol then pulled out her shotgun and caught Azrael completely by surprise by blowing a large chunk of armor out of the ZARTEMA's left hip. Then with one mighty swing, she swiped her beam saber right across the front midsection of the mobile suit and the ZARTEMA fell, knocking Azrael unconscious.

"Heh, useless Alpha trash, you never had a chance against me." Carol said confidant that her opponent had been defeated. "Come on boys, lets get out of here."

Just as the mobile suits were about to leave, something was happening within the damaged ZARTEMA. The meteor within Azrael was starting to do something to him. He was still unconscious but the meteor was almost forcing his arms and legs to twitch. Suddenly, Azrael placed both of his hands on the mobile suit controls. Then, without even moving the controls, the mobile suit activated and was starting to stand up again.

"Uhh…boss?" Tank stuttered.

"What! He's standing up again?" Carol said shocked.

The mobile suit had been damaged beyond any kind of repair, yet it was still able to stand on it's own two feet. It was also starting to give off bolts of extreme amounts of energy out of the damaged parts and it was slowly starting to move closer to the stunned trio of NZFF pilots.

"What the hell is going on Zartem? Just who have you sent against my team?" Carol asked as she opened her channel to Zartem's personal ship. But to her dismay, there was no response from Zartem or any of the ship's crewmembers.

"Watch out boss, it's coming closer!" Guard warned.

Suddenly Carol charged straight at Azrael using the full power of her ZYROT. "Just die already!" she screamed as the ZYROT landed a hard blow right at the base of the ZARTEMA. What surprised her next was that the blow didn't even make this zombie-like mobile suit flinch even a little bit.

"You…first." The crazed Azrael said to the completely horrified pilot as he opened his eyes revealing a very dangerous glare. His eyes began to glow a very bright yellow which was also the color of a very powerful aura that now surrounded his mobile suit.

Azrael had become as bloodthirsty as ever now thanks to his anger, which had finally unlocked the full potential of the meteor that was within him. It had consumed him of all thought and reason and because of its power, Azrael was now able to manipulate and control his machine without even using the controls. What's more is that the meteor has had a direct effect on the mobile suit itself, coating it in an armor that was nearly indestructable to whatever these 3 pilots could throw at it.

The ZARTEMA then tossed the ZYROT aside effortlessly and charged full speed at the ENSOT mobile suit to cripple the team's long range support. It fired numerous rounds at the charging mobile suit, taking piece after piece out of it. But nothing could stop this chaotic mobile suit now that a meteor child who had unleashed his full power was piloting it.

"Help me Boss! AHHH!" Tank screamed as the ZARTEMA slashed through his mobile suit with his very unstable energy bolts.

"You'll pay for what you did to Tank you bastard!" Guard shouted as he unleashed a blade that was concealed within his shields and came straight at the ZARTEMA. But once he was in range of the ZARTEMA, Azrael quickly turned around and caught the charging mobile suit in mid-air by it's arms. Then with no effort at all, ripped the arms off of the RESISTOT, backed away, and threw one of the bladed shields straight thorough the cockpit of the defenseless mobile suit, killing Guard instantly.

"No! Tank! Guard!" Carol cried as she watched her comrades die so easily. "You monster, I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do! Prepare to die Azrael!"

Then the ZYROT flew in close and fired round after round of shotgun fire at the ZARTEMA, stunning it slightly but not causing any real damage.

"You…are…powerless…pilot." Azrael said inducing even more fear into Carol. "Feel…my…true…power!"

Suddenly the ZARTEMA started to charge all of the meteor energy Azrael had within him and as soon as the ZYROT charged after him one more time, he unleashed an extremely powerful meteor beam straight at the ZYROT. Carol was disintegrated along with her mobile suit with one touch of this unbelievable force. The blast was so powerful that it had nearly broken up all of Zeta 8.

As soon as his attack was finished, the ZARTEMA dropped in the sand, Azrael's powers had vanished and he fell unconscious once again as the extreme heat of his attack and the desert expansion had finally got to him.

"Such…power." Zartem said with awe.

"It seems as though the Neo Alphan has completed the Trial of Trust with flying colors, Lord Zartem." Maieva said sarcastically.

"Get him patched up and bring him before me." Zartem ordered.

"Yes sir." One of the ship pilots replied.

It didn't take long for the observers to come in and rescue Azrael from his smoldering mobile suit. When they finally got the cockpit open, the inside gave off a lot of heat and smoke. They found Azrael unconscious in the cockpit and slowly removed him from his mobile suit, taking care not to injure him any further.

When Azrael came to for a brief moment, he noticed a woman speaking to him. "Welcome to the Neo Zetan Freedom Fighters, Azrael." She said as the exhausted meteor child blacked out once more.


End file.
